Page 19 of The Alien's Major Dilemma

“Never,” he said with a grin. “But I’ve seen people doing it. I think I can figure it out.”

“Can I teach you?” she asked.

“Can you show me how you like to be kissed?” he asked. “Show me how to start pleasuring you? Do you intend to torture me, creature?”

“Creature?” she asked, and forced her eyes up to look at him.

His eyes twinkled with mischief. “Alien?”

Her lips twisted with amusement and she shoved her hand against his chest. He caught it and pulled her into his arms, his lips hovered over hers for the briefest hesitation, and she stretched to close the distance between them.

It was the gentlest kiss she’d ever received from a man and it made her melt against him. They moved apart briefly for a better position and came back together with a bruising intensity that pushed away all her questions for the moment.

Marissa’s arms wrapped around his neck and shoulders to pull her closer, an effort Cooper assisted by sliding one powerful hand under her thigh and lifting while the other slid behind her neck to keep her mouth sealed with his. Her legs wrapped around his waist and he pushed her into the divider she’d been leaning against hard enough to feel his arousal.

It soothed an ache inside her to feel how much he wanted her. When he pressed against the part of her that craved him the most, that ache turned into an inferno of need and she couldn’t help but writhe against him.

A desperate keening noise intruded on her thoughts and she was surprised to realize she was the one making it. Her body burned with need and she knew she needed to stop what they were doing right then or risk making a mistake they couldn’t come back from.

She turned her face to protest, to tell him they needed to stop, and groaned when he licked his way to the base of her neck. He licked and sucked the tender flesh just over her pulse and she swallowed her objections.

“Cooper,” she gasped at one sharp pull.

She needed something. More friction, more space, something, anything to ease the ache in her core.

Then he bit.

Marissa threw her head back as the orgasm crashed through her, the aching parts of her body clenched around nothing and let her know exactly what they wanted instead. He pulled her hard against him and she felt him pulse and writhe between her legs while he spilled.

When they were both done, he opened his mouth from the bite and helped her lower her shaking legs to the floor. Cooper held her steady while she regained her balance, then stepped back.

He looked shocked, tired, and as satisfied as she felt. Which is to say, not satisfied at all. As good as the orgasm was that they’d both had, it was just as obvious that it wasn’t enough for either of them.

“What the hell was that?” she asked.

“Funny,” he said. “I would have thought you’d recognize an orgasm when you had one. Maybe I’m getting my romance training from the wrong person.”

She smacked his chest and he laughed. A moment later, she joined him. It felt good. Much better than panicking about having the best orgasm in her life from a kiss.

“So, what happens next?” she asked.

Cooper shrugged and looked away. It wasn’t fair that he looked so cute without his disguise. Or that she didn’t feel like she was finished yet.

“What do you want to happen next?”

She was tempted. So very, very tempted to demand he show her where his bed was. Instead, she took a deep breath and savored the scents that had permeated the room for a minute.

The decision she wasn't sure was even a decision clicked in her brain and a deep feeling of peace settled behind her breastbone. It didn't stop her concerns but it did give her a direction. It felt right.

“I think,” she said slowly. “That we need to figure out what’s going on with the drone and your ship. I know you said it’s hidden but I don’t trust that to last, especially when you’ve got the Orvax searching for you, too. Then make a plan for you to survive until your ride or refuel or whatever gets here.”

“That’s not-”

“Not what you were expecting to hear?” she said and shrugged. “I’m not saying it’s the best plan but I don’t want to get you killed. And I get the feeling you’d planned to manage on your own until your call was answered.”

“For as much as I had a plan, yeah,” he said.

“Well, now you’ve got me. And I have things I want to do that require you to be alive.”

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